The smile on Lyra's face looked worse than crying.

Bullying Selene? From beginning to end, the one being bullied was always Lyra.

But Fenris was blind to it. Clearly, he couldn't see it at all.

The pack members around looked at Lyra with pity. As the bonded mate treated like this, she was probably one of a kind.

Painful memories flooded back one by one. Her illness acted up again, the familiar trembling that came when her suppressed instincts warred against the forced bond.

"If I'm not welcome here, then I'll leave." She clenched her fists tightly.

Selene pretended to step forward to stop her, but Fenris stopped her instead. "Leave her alone. The entire Stormvale bloodline is finished. She still carries bad temper from that. I'm not going to spoil her."

After leaving the Moon-Market hall, Lyra went to the back garden of the Central Den.

The last time she came here with Fenris, the place was full of moonflower vines. His promises were just like those blossoms. Beautiful for a moment, then quickly withered.

She didn't want to cry, but because of her illness, tears kept falling. Her hands shook as she took out a vial of heat-stabilizers. Before she could take the medicine, Selene rushed over and snatched it away.

She was no longer weak like before. Now she was sharp and cruel.

"Oh? Is this medicine for your unstable condition? Huh, so you really are broken. Kael is a criminal in the holding den and now you're mentally scattered. You two really are perfect siblings."

Lyra could endure many things. But not insults about her brother. Her eyes filled with anger. "Selene, say one more bad word about my brother, and I'll tear your throat out!"

Selene laughed coldly. "Lyra, you're no longer the Stormvale heir. Your bloodline is disgraced. Fenris protects me everywhere now. What do you have to fight me with?"

"Just like back then. You knew Kael didn't force himself on me. But all I had to do was release distressed pheromones and act pitiful, and Fenris believed me."

"What I didn't expect was that Fenris would personally send his own bond-brother to the iron-silver holding den for me. But that proves how much he loves me."

"Lyra, I destroyed your pack once. Now I can turn you into a miserable omega dog again. If you don't believe me, we can try and find out."

Lyra completely lost control. She raised her hand and slapped Selene hard.

"Selene, you framed my brother. I will end your life!" She grabbed Selene by the neck, her eyes red with rage.

Just as she thought she could finally take revenge, Fenris rushed over. He pulled them apart with Alpha strength and threw Lyra several meters away.

Lyra's calf was cut by a sharp stone. A long wound opened, over ten centimeters. Blood stained the ground.

But Fenris only looked at Selene. "Selene, are you hurt? Are you okay?"

Selene hid in his arms, crying softly. "Fenris, I thought I was going to die just now. If you hadn't come, the Stormvale omega would have killed me."

Fenris turned to look at Lyra. His eyes were full of disappointment and hatred.

In the past, the way he looked at her was full of love. Now, after just a few words from Selene, only hatred remained.

Fenris... Fenris... You kept saying you love me. But everything you do hurts me.

"Is this what you call a mating bond?" Lyra muttered to herself.

Fenris spoke coldly. "Lyra. Apologize."

Even in this miserable state, Lyra still refused to lower her head.

"I did nothing wrong. I will not apologize." She continued, "Fenris, you're the one who's wrong. You trusted Selene. She admitted it herself just now. That she framed my brother and destroyed my pack."

"From beginning to end, she has been weaving false scents in front of you. She has been lying to you the whole time."

Lyra thought that after revealing so much, Fenris would at least question it—even if he didn't fully believe her.

Yet, he didn't.

"That's enough! Even now, you're still trying to frame her," Fenris snarled, his Alpha command voice pressing against her like a physical weight. "Back then, your brother forced himself on her. And now you keep throwing false scent-accusations at her."

"Lyra, I really misjudged you. I didn't expect your heart to be so cruel."

Lyra's heart turned completely cold. She slowly climbed up from the ground. Even though she was in a terrible state—her Omega submission instincts screaming at her to bare her throat—she stood straight.

"We were both wrong. Maybe we should never have been bonded," she said.

Her white ceremonial clothes were stained red with blood at that moment. But Fenris felt no pity and mocked her instead.

"Hah! Even now, you're still blaming others. Lyra, I've been too good to you."

"Since that's the case, you need to learn a lesson so you won't harass pack members. Summon the Pack Guards! Tell them that Lyra Stormvale had intentionally injured a fellow Omega."

Everyone around was shocked, their scents spiking with fear and disbelief.

Selene pretended to be kind and said softly, her voice trembling with practiced weakness, "Fenris, forget it. She is still your mate. I can suffer a little. Don't let my matter damage your bond."

But Fenris replied firmly, "Selene, you don't need to be so understanding. I promised you long ago that I would never let anyone harass you again."

Hearing his promise to Selene, Lyra felt sharp pain in her chest where the forced bond-mark burned. Those words... he once said the same things to her.

Lyra looked at him and spoke slowly, "Fenris, back then, to make me accept your claim, you promised you would never let me suffer. You said you would only love me in this life."

"You said I could do anything and you would always protect me." By the end, her voice grew weaker. She was exhausted. "You made too many Moon Oaths, but you kept none of them."

Fenris didn't care. "Every cause has its result. Your brother hurt Selene. Your whole bloodline should make up for it."

Lyra stared at him with red eyes. "What if everything was a lie she told you? What if the scent evidence was fabricated?"

Fenris sneered. "You're saying again that she framed your brother? I've heard this for years. You're not tired of saying it, but I'm tired of hearing it."

"Don't you always say the one in my heart is Selene?"

"Fine. I'll make it true. I'll let you see that without my protection, without my Alpha authority, you are nothing."

He turned to the Pack Guards and shouted, "What are you waiting for? Take the Mate to the Sanctuary Den. She'll calm down properly after that."

As the guards grabbed Lyra, her heat-suppressant medicine fell to the ground, the vials scattering across the stone floor.

Fenris reacted quickly. When he saw the medicine, he laughed coldly. "Suppressants? You're having heat instability? Lyra, what trick is this now?"

"You really love acting, don't you? Fine, I'll go along with it."

"Tell the Sanctuary Den that my mate is mentally unstable. No special treatment for her."

"Put her together with the other broken wolves. Let them 'discuss' their afflictions together."

Lyra already knew Fenris was heartless. But hearing such cruel words with her own ears still made her heart shake.

As she was dragged away, she laughed coldly. "Fenris, you will regret this."

For the next half month, Lyra was locked in the Sanctuary Den with wolves who had lost themselves to moon-madness and feral rage.

During the day, she received so-called "submission therapy." She was bound with silver-threaded restraints for forced compliance sessions. She was made to swallow unknown herbs that dulled her senses and suppressed her wolf entirely.

At night, she had to stay alert, afraid the feral wolves might attack her in their confusion.

For fifteen days, she was tortured until she was barely recognizable as the proud Stormvale Omega she had once been.

The only constant thing was this: Every day, Fenris sent pack members to force her to admit she was wrong—to sign a Moon Oath of submission and false confession.

At first, Lyra said nothing. Later, she was tortured until her mind began to fracture. She could barely speak through the haze of drugs.

In the end, she couldn't hold on anymore. She looked at the wolves Fenris sent and said in despair, "I did nothing wrong. If you're capable, then kill me."

If death meant escaping this horrible life forever, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

Finally, on the fifteenth day, Lyra was pushed to the edge of death. She was rushed to the Healer Den overnight, her wolf barely flickering within her broken body.

When Fenris burst through the doors of the Healer Den, Lyra was so thin she was almost just bones.

For a brief moment, Fenris's heart ached. His wolf stirred with something that might have been concern. But his face stayed cold, his Alpha presence pressing down on the room. "I only sent you to the Sanctuary Den to learn some discipline. Was it necessary to torture yourself like this?"

Lyra didn't even have the strength to be angry. She looked at him numbly, her Omega scent so faded it was barely detectable.

Torture herself? Wasn't her current state all because of him? The forced heat suppressants, the isolation from pack bonds, the constant pressure to submit—all of it his doing.

But Lyra didn't want to argue anymore. She asked only one question, "You promised to help with my brother's Council petition. Does that still count?"

As long as her brother could be cleared of the false scent-testimony charges, nothing else mattered.

Fenris's throat tightened. After so long apart, that was the first thing she asked him.

In his memory, Lyra used to depend on him like a young wolf seeking her Alpha's protection. But at some point, she stopped relying on him.

When she was sick, she went to the Healer Den alone. She no longer sent for him through the pack bond. When debt-collectors from rival packs came, she quietly sold her bond-tokens and family relics to pay them. Even when she was humiliated at pack gatherings, she never complained when she came home to their den.

Thinking of this, Fenris felt a sudden pain in his chest. His wolf whined, confused.

When Fenris didn't answer, Lyra smiled as if she expected it.

"Forget it. I was naïve." She stood up to gather her things, her movements slow and deliberate.

Suddenly, Fenris grabbed her wrist, his grip firm but not bruising, and said with Alpha command threading through his voice, "I'll handle your brother's petition."

Fenris gave in. But Lyra wasn't happy as expected. She only said distantly, "Okay. Thank you."

Fenris frowned deeply. The old Lyra never said thank you—not to her mate. She truly had changed. The bond between them felt thin, stretched to breaking.

There were only two days left before the Council Hearing. After Fenris sent her back to their den last time, he never returned.

Every day, Fenris said he was too busy with pack matters.

But every day, Lyra saw Selene's messages spread through the pack's communication channels. Nine days in a row, a full display of images, all showing Fenris's devotion to Selene—bringing her prey, scenting her in public, his wolf hovering protectively near hers.

During that time, Selene kept sending Lyra provocative messages through the pack's mind-link.

She always withdrew them after two minutes, then claimed it was a mistake.

It looked innocent, but Lyra understood the game. Still, Lyra no longer felt pain. She only wanted her brother's second Council Hearing to end quickly.

So the day before the hearing, Lyra demanded that Fenris come home no matter what.

Fenris came back, but his heart wasn't there. Selene said she was scared to be alone in her quarters, so Fenris stayed connected to her through a scry-stone, her voice filling their den.

Selene said she had no appetite, so Fenris prepared a meal himself and sent it to her by pack runner.

Selene said she wanted to see him, so Fenris came to discuss it with Lyra.

"Lyra, Selene needs me. I'll go stay with her tonight. I promise I'll be on time for your brother's Council Hearing tomorrow."

A strong sense of unease rose in Lyra's heart, her wolf pacing anxiously. "Fenris, I'm begging you. Just stay here for one night. After tonight, you can do whatever you want. I won't interfere."

Fenris hesitated. This was the first time Lyra had begged him like this, her Omega submission genuine rather than coerced.

But the next second, Selene suddenly screamed through the scry-stone: [Fenris! I slipped coming out of the bathing pool! Come save me!]

Fenris immediately shook off Lyra's hand, his Alpha instincts responding to the distress call.

At the door, Lyra stopped him again. She cried and begged, "Fenris, if Selene fell, I can send a healer to her. I'm only asking you to stay with me today."

"Fenris, don't you want a bond severance? If you don't go, after tomorrow's hearing, I'll cancel the severance petition."

No matter how much Lyra begged, Fenris only said, "Lyra, we won't sever the bond. But I can't ignore Selene either."

"I promise you, I will be there for your brother's hearing tomorrow." Fenris walked out of the den quickly, his wolf form blurring as he shifted to run faster.

Lyra watched his retreating form and cried, her wolf howling silently within her. No matter how many times it happened, she could never keep him.

Lyra didn't sleep all night, her wolf restless and grieving. Early the next morning, she reached through their fading bond to contact Fenris. He responded that he would definitely arrive on time.

Lyra believed him. But even when Elder Thane Ironvein entered the Council Hall, Fenris still didn't come.

The Elder struck the ceremonial stone. "Since the petitioning Alpha-Sponsor is absent, the second hearing is now sealed. No further petition will be accepted under pack law."

Those words completely broke Lyra. She knelt beside her brother Kael in the prisoner's circle and apologized.

"Brother, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I'm useless. I couldn't save you. I even harmed you. Strike me if you want. It's all my fault."

For two whole years, Lyra forced herself to be strong. She believed there was hope in the second hearing.

Fenris gave her hope and then crushed it again. Just like before.

Fenris… Fenris…

"If we had never met, how wonderful that would be?"